WHAT: About 160 high school students at the Johns Hopkins Baltimore campus — and another 425 students across the country — will compete in the annual Spaghetti Bridge Contest, marking the culmination of a four-week summer course called Engineering Innovation. Using only dry spaghetti and epoxy, the students have designed and built bridges that the contest will test. Kilo by kilo, weight will be added to the bridges until they shatter. Prizes will be awarded to the teams whose bridges hold the most weight. The record stands at 60 kilos — 132 pounds.

WHO: Students competing in Baltimore are from 21 states and 14 countries – including some from Baltimore City Schools. Their families will be cheering them on.

WHY: Johns Hopkins’ Whiting School of Engineering created Engineering Innovation in 2006 to expose high school students to various engineering disciplines and to teach them critical thinking and problem solving. After the program, 86 percent of the participants have gone on to pursue careers in engineering.

Members of the media who expect to cover this event should RSVP to Jill Rosen at 443-997-9906 or 443-547-8805 or jrosen@jhu.edu.